†††I've been a fan of Blizzard ever since the day Starcraft was released, and I must say Blizzard has done it again. The anticipated Warcraft III was released July 3rd to stores all around the USA and has once again started the Real Time Strategy / Role Playing Game craze.

Blizzard gave a sort of uniqueness to Warcraft III. Warcraft III does not only contain a RTS kind of gameplay but also RPG gameplay with quests and leveling of characters, sort of like a mix of Diablo and Starcraft. Some people may say "Oh no, not another build, kill, and win game," no no, it's far from that, WarCraft 3 is a game where it takes skill to win, and skill to accomplish. Single player is a good feature of this game with a great storyline and awesome endings (no spoilers here), but lacked in difficulty just a tad as most hardcore gamers can beat in just a few hours. So how does the gameplay work? In Single Player you have campaigns; these campaigns have quests which you need to accomplish. Accomplish all the quests for the level and you win the mission. There are multiple campaigns, about one per each race. Multiplayer works by going against players and/or computers in an all out battle. You build and defend your base and form an offense to destroy competing units. Multiplayer has many options to choose from, there is Free For All, Team Free For All, Teams, or just play custom trigger maps like the olí Starcraft days.

Resources are a
must in this game

Different races have
different abilities

The sound couldn't get any better. Blizzard yet again uses the Miles sound system which delivers perfect sound while you play. The sound effects are also good, you can hear the scream of the orc as he perishes under your sword. The music is pretty awesome, it offers a suspenseful rhythm while defending your base from the evil undead minions. Although to enjoy sound the most, you may want a good sound card with 4 speakers so you can immerse yourself into the game. I'll be happy to say this game supports the EAX 3d audio system to make things more realistic for your Orc slaying pleasure.

Using a new game engine created by Blizzard made the graphics appear pretty good, but beware the default setting doesnít look as good, so tweak your settings if you want the best graphics. The downside to the engine is that in order to change the resolution you need to do it from the main menu and your not able to do it while youíre actually playing the game, but you get used to it. The models blizzard made are by far amazing and deserve a round of applause for the effort in detail shown. The particles are eyecandy, the fires look real and so do the spells with their magical effects. Now these graphics may sound very cool but they require a lot of computing power so follow the required hardware guide by Blizzard to enjoy these fabulous effects.

A variety of options
for tweakers

These particles are
absolute eyecandy

Blizzard has implemented some useful features in Warcraft III that other games don't have. The best feature is the updated Battle.net system. You can find opponents that match your skill level so you can fight them, no more people faking to be newbies to get easy kills. Other features include a friends list (yay!) and team support for those people who have clans and guilds! Of course there are many other features in Warcraft III, there is to many to list here, so go buy the game and find out. Blizzard has also updated the Game Statics at the end of each mission, they are now very detailed with information like how much resources you had or how many units you built. Another eye boggling feature is the interactive menus Blizzard decide to put in. These menus have moving chains and actual gameplay inside of them (flaming rocks crashing down).

Cool looking
Interactive Menus

Detailed statistics of
your missions.

This game is marvelous! Aside from a few things like the difficulty of the campaigns or the graphics options, this game is what everyone expected to be, the next Blizzard classic.